I think there's a distinction here to be made between the mass market and the hobbiest. As a hobbiest I find my tastes are becoming more refined as I've been exposed to better and better equipment over the years and thus I'm prepared to spend my disposable income on equipment related to my hobby. Compare this to tennis shoes, which I don't care about other than keeping my feet off the cold floor and thus will buy the mass market cheapo shoes only when my current pair has more holes than hide.

If economists are right and then next generation is NOT going to be better off than the current generation then the hobbies are the logical place to save money. I think that's the real danger to all the nitch markets, not just the audiophile market.